Surprises found on the Web

November 16, 2004

@nonymouse.com

Actually, if you can reach this site, you don't need @nonymouse.com. But maybe you can pass the URL along to someone who does.

A lot of countries block their citizens' access to some websites—notably China, which among other things blocks access to all TypePad sites. But if you visit @nonymouse.com, you can then type in the URL of just about any site, and your original "identity" disappears. The computer you visit knows you only as coming from @nonymouse.

Apparently authorities keep chasing down such sites. So if this site stops working, use a search engine with the phrase "Web anonymizer" and you should be able to find another one like it.